This invention relates to product identification and information tags for merchandise suspended from elongate horizontally oriented support hooks and the like. More particularly, the invention relates to such tags which may be readily attached to and removed from the support hooks without being subject to inadvertent removal, and which display product information forwardly of merchandise supported on a hook.
My U.S. Pat. No. 4,525,944 issued July 2, 1985 discloses, inter alia, elongate product information and identification tags made of plastic sheet which display the product information forwardly of items suspended from horizontal hooks which may extend, for example, from an apertured support board or the like. The tags include a mounting portion for attachment to and removal from the hook at a location adjacent the board, an intermediate portion extending forwardly from the mounting portion along the length of the hook and the merchandise suspended therefrom, and a display portion integrally formed at the distal end of the intermediate portion and which is bent downwardly in front of the hook for the display of required product identification and/or information data. Further, the tags have an aperture adjacent the distal end of the intermediate portion for an end portion of the hook to project upwardly through, thereby providing lateral stabilization of the tag. When a product is removed from the hook over the front end, the tag flexes upwardly to free the end of the hook, and the tag drops back over the end of the hook after the product has been removed.
Further, my copending patent application Ser. No. 719,116 filed Apr. 2, 1985 discloses a similar product identification tag which has a removable and replaceable display portion at the forward end enabling the product labelling readily to be changed, if required.
The disclosures of both my patent and my copending application are expressly incorporated herein by reference.
The tags as disclosed in both the patent and in the pending application are provided with mounting portions particularly adapted for use with horizontally oriented elongate support hooks, generally formed of metal rods, which fit into an apertured board. However, frequently in merchandising displays, the support hooks may form a part of an integrated self-supporting free-standing display unit, with each hook extending, for example, from a transverse metal rod to which the back of the hook may be welded. It is an object of the present invention to provide a merchandise information and display tag structure of the general type discussed above, but which has a mounting portion particularly adapted for fitting onto a hook which is permanently fixed at the back of the hook to a transverse rod of a free-standing display unit or the like.